Vapor-burning apparatus



Patented Nov. 8, I898.

No. 6l3,685.

A. KITSON.

VAPOR BURNING APPARATUS.

[Application filed Nov. 22, 1897.)

(No Model.)

OIL SUPPLY WITNESSES:

THE cams wz'rcas co. Pno'ro-uwa. wmu

"NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR KITSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE KITSON HYDROOARBON HEATING AND INOANDESCENT LIGHTING COM- PANY, on WEST VIRGINIA.

VAPOR-BURNING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 613,685, dated November 8, 1898.

Application filed November 22, 1897. Serial No. 659,426. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR KITSON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Vapor-Burning Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to vapor-burning ap- IO paratus, and is specially designed to produce a simple and effective apparatus for producing the initial heating necessary to start said apparatus into action. In all forms of such apparatus that I have heretofore designed [5 such, for instance, as that illustrated in my United States Patent No. 600,792, dated March 1'5, 1898 l l16 action is self-sustaining after once put in operation by reason of the fact that the heat given off by the burner is employed in part to heat the vaporizingtube, and thus transform fluid hydrocarbon into vapor; but in order to produce the initial heating of said tube some extraneous source of heat is necessary. To accomplish this in a safe and convenient manner, I propose to employ an auxiliary electrical heater.

The preferred form of my apparatus is illus trated in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial section of a form of vapor-burning lamp with an ordinary electrical heating-coil arranged in operative relation to the vaporizingtube. Fig. 2 is a modification in which the tube itself is insulated and made a portion of the electrical circuit.

Throughout the drawings like referencefigures refer to like parts.

1 1 represent the burners of the apparatus, which are preferably arranged to heat mantles of refractory material, such as the wellknown Welsbach mantle, to incandescence for the purpose of giving light. 2 is a glass bowl surrounding said burners. 5 3 represents generally the lamp-hood and chimney above the burners, and at is a vaporizing=tube therein mounted and within the heating-zone of the burners, preferably immediately over the same.

5 is a mixing-tube into which the vaporizing-tube discharges a jet of vapor and which conducts said vapor and the necessary quantity of air entrained by said jet down to the burners 1 1.

The vaporizing-tube projects a certain dis- 5 5 tance beyond the lamp-hood for the purpose of attaching the oil-supply pipe 11 and the valve-controlling mechanism 12, and, if necessary, this projecting portion maybe slightly increased in length, as shown at 4, in order to accommodate a surrounding coil of highresistance electrical conductor 6, which in the form shown in Fig. 1 would be covered with some refractory electrical insulating substance-such as, for instance, asbestos. The coil should also be incased in a covering 7 to protect the same and keep it in shape, and this covering 7 should also be preferably of some refractory non-heat-conducting material, such as asbestos millboard.

The two ends of the heating-coil 6 are of course connected to wires 8 and 9, which lead to some source of electrical current 10, which may be a primary battery, a secondary bat tery, or a dynamo.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the separate heating-coil is dispensed with, and the vaporizing-tube 4.- is itself insulated at its points of support by nipples of hard fiber 13 13, and the wires 8 and 9 of the electrical supply-circuit are connected to opposite ends of the tube itself. It then becomes necessary to insulate the supply-pipe 11 from said vaporizing-tube, and this is done in any convenient Way, as by inserting the nipple of hard fiber 14 at the point of attachment to said tube. The valve-wheel 12 should also be made of or covered with hard rubber or other insulating material to protect the operator from possibility of getting a shock when manipulating the needle-valve controlling the discharge from the vaporizing-tube.

The method of operating my invention is as follows:' When it is desired to start the lamp, the current is turned on at the switch 95 15, controlling the electric circuit, and the heating-coil 6 becomes hot, transmitting the heat to the vaporizing-tube and raising the latter to the temperature necessary to vaporize oil. Oil is then admitted through the I00 supply-pipe 11 by opening a valve, (not shown,) and the vapor which is generated when the oil enters the hot tube passes out through the other end of said vaporizing-tube and forms a jet which may be controlled by turning the valve-wheel 12. This jet entrains a certain quantity of air to form a highly-combustible mixture in the mixingtube 5, and is conducted by said tube to the burners l 1, where it isignited. Aftera short time the heat of the burners is sufficient to maintain the vaporizin g-tube at the necessary temperature and the current is shut off from the electric heater by opening the switch 15.

In the modifications shown in Fig. 2 the same mode of operation is followed, except that the vaporizing-tube 4 is there made of high electrical resistance by forming it of some substance possessing such quality of electrical resistance and the current is transmitted through the said tube direct, thus heating the tube.

The advantages of this form of apparatus are that the inconvenience in the use of the ordinary form of alcohol-cup and the danger resulting from the unskilful use of alcohol are avoided, and the initial heating of the vaporizing-tube is effected with certainty, safety, and rapidity.

Of course this electrical heating attachment may be used with other forms of vapor-burners than the one shown, and numerous modifications of the arrangement of the electrical heater may be employed. I prefer the form illustrated in Fig. 1, however, because the heating-coil is there placed on the end of the vaporizing-tube nearest to the oil-supply, and thus insures the complete vaporization of the oil before it reaches the remaining portions of the vaporizing-tube.

The broad feature of the combination of the vapor-burner and incandescent mantle therefor and a vaporizing-tube with proper connections to the burner and located within the heating-zone of the burner-flame I do not claim herein, as the same is shown, described, and claimed in my pending application, Serial No. 663,495, filed December 27, 1897.

The construction shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings and modifications thereof, in which a portion of the vaporizing-tube is itself included in the electric circuit, are not herein claimed, but are described and claimed in my pending application, Serial No. 681,594, filed May 24, 1898.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a vapor-burning lamp of the vaporizing-tube thereof, the vapor-burner beneath the tube, an oil-supply pipe attached to one end of said tube, and an electrical heater arranged in operative relation to the end of the vaporizing-tube nearest the attachment of the oil-supply pipe, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vapor-burning lamp having a hood, and the vaporizing-tube thereof projecting beyond said hood, of a heating-coil formed of an insulated electric conductorwound about the portion of the vaporizing-tube projecting beyond the lamphood, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a vapor-burning lamp having a hood, and the vaporizing-tube thereof projecting beyond the hood of said lamp, of the heating-coil, formed of an insulated electrical conductor wound about the portion of the vaporizing-tube projecting beyond the lamp-hood, and a casing of nonheat-conducting material surrounding said heater and said portion of the vaporizingtube, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR KITSON.

Witnesses:

A. PARKER SMITH, LILIAN FOSTER. 

